The Black Hole

I can't believe that I watched the whole movie.

The title was perfect! I was expecting a lot, but all I got is a lame scenario with a weak plot, lame actors, and the creature! "The entity"… That was awful.

There's no doubt, it's not the movie that I'll watch over and over. Besides, it was pretty educational. I can now recognize poor stories in the fly… and these are some tips : 1) If actors seem to read their script to act, just stop watching ; 2) If you got a lot of definitions, to explain obvious stuff, also literally read, just cut the damn movie off; 3) If you see a creature supposed to come from nowhere, following a logical path, I'll say it again : just-cut-it-off.

The theme was interesting. May be if they've concentrate on characters and creature development instead of trying to look scientific, making some theory heard and said takes form… This movie shouldn't even exist.

Whatever, it reveals what American people are expecting from their government facing the unknown : nuclear bombing, a little good talk to morn the loss, and right after explain that it was a painful but a necessary decision…

Can't we put negative score to punish the weakest stuff?

Why, oh why, does SciFi continue to create these horrible wastes of time and money? I watched this solely for it being set in St. Louis. There's really nothing good to say about this movie.

There is just so much wrong here that it's hard to even know where to start. The dialog is horrible and the plot is even worse. Particularly bad is when a character tells you something and then the camera shows you something completely different (e.g. "the black hole is growing" and then shown the same size throughout the entire movie). There are too many examples to list, and I'd hate to "spoil" this movie for anyone who still wishes to abuse themselves by watching it.

If I had to say something nice, it would be that some of the effects aren't half bad. Not good across-the-board, but not bad. Since you can see those in the ads for the movie, there's no reason to subject yourself to the complete film.

Please, SciFi, save your money and create 24 episodes of Stargate instead of 20. At least then you'd have four hours of programming people would enjoy instead of this two hours of nonsense.

As a resident of the city in which the movie took place, I enjoyed it mostly for the amazingly silly geographic liberties the filmmakers took with St. Louis. I knew it was going to be entertaining from the moment the Planetarium/Science Center - one of the most well-known buildings in the city - was labeled as the stand-in for the nuclear physics institute where the whole mess started.

From there, it was a silly and stupid ride through bad science and locations that left most of my family going, "But isn't that building in the area they just said was destroyed?" My favorite moment was after the Arch and Downtown St. Louis were destroyed and then we saw Judd Nelson racing down a road...in downtown St. Louis...toward a darkened but obviously still visible and untouched Arch.

The actors performed their roles with earnestness and deserve credit for doing what they could with the silliness of the plot.

I knew from the trailers Sci-Fi channel was showing that this one would be totally insane. I watched anyway, figuring it would be at least good for some kitschy comedy, and a chance to see my home town of St. Louis get ripped. It did not disappoint (at being insane, that is).

A black hole is created artificially in a lab, but the black hole itself is not the only menace, as a strange electrical energy entity (that zaps people into oblivion) hitchhikes with it. This creature was actually kind of a creative plot device, since the movie really didn't seem to know what to do with the black hole other than devour stuff. Since there is a famous landmark in St. Louis, it's pretty obvious where the black hole goes for lunch (always moving along the ground in a 2-dimensional manner, by the way). As for the creature, it was utilized in some intriguing ways; but the explanation of its nature and intent was insufficiently developed, and could have been explored more.

Most everyone is at least somewhat familiar with basic scientific theory regarding black holes, and therefore will see a myriad of scientific absurdities, but if you view this silly nonsense without taking it seriously, it can be fun to watch. Toss disbelief into the black hole; or just play a game of "find the goofy science" as you watch.

The actors, given the weird script, really do approach the thing with urgency. When the scientist hero describes his quantum physics theories, you almost want to believe the offbeat premise of this movie. But then another bizarre thing happens and you're laughing hysterically again. There are the usual ploys and clichés: divorced dads, military that wants to use nukes, rogue scientists, TV news reporters doing play-by-play of destruction, etc.

Watch for loony amusement only. Science has been imploded in this "Black Hole."

In this SciFi Channel original, an accident in a nuclear lab in St. Louis causes not only the creation of a black hole, but unleashes an alien creature that feeds on energy. A scientist and his female partner team up with a maverick general to solve the growing menace while the military embarks on a typical blow-it-up solution that could wreak disaster for the world.

I found the idea of a small black hole created on Earth intriguing, and it was interesting watching it eat up everything around it. (So it "can't" happen, but hey, it is science fiction!) Unfortunately, screenwriter David Goodin, who is responsible for "Larva," another TV movie that flopped, again shows himself adept at giving us a general plot and characters who are tired and clichéd. You know, the implausible story of the world-threatening event that is handled by the lone scientist (instead of every intelligent professional in the world) and simplistic government officials who make FEMA look good! Even if we accept this script as a mediocre formula tale, we would hope for at least semi-intelligent dialogue and a director who had some slight ability for pacing. (Tibor Tacaks has, according to IMDb, directed some 28 films, and I don't think any of them rated over 5). Perhaps with such a weak structure, we can forgive the wooden, lackluster acting from a cast who must have figured at least it was a way to make a quick buck.

I'm pretty tolerant of formula sci fi, even when the premise is implausible, but this one is bad even for a TV movie.